The Friends of Renton Schools celebrated its third benefit breakfast Monday morning with the help of former NASA astronaut Bonnie Dunbar, with the entire campaign raising close to $189,000 for Renton schools.

Dunbar was the keynote speaker for the fund-raising event and spoke to the crowded Renton Pavilion Event Center about her upbringing and the importance for young people to understand the paths open for them.

This year the campaign raised close to $189,000 and organizers expected to reach $200,000 as donations were still coming in mid-week. Last year the event raised more than $180,000.

“We are so thrilled with the community support,” said Pam Teal, Renton school board member and chair of Friends of Renton Schools. “We have a very generous community that supports education.”

Dunbar has completed five space missions and spent some 50 days in space in her career. Dunbar, a University of Washington graduate, is the director of Higher Education and STEM for the Boeing Co.

As a second-generation American with family origins in Scotland, Dunbar explained how she was drawn to the stars as a child.

They were the wonder of her imagination growing up on a rural farm in Outlook in Eastern Washington with no city lights to obscure her view.

Dunbar talked about her parents, teachers and pieces of history that shaped her pursuit of becoming an engineer with the intent to become an astronaut.

The oldest of four children, Dunbar loved to read.

“I went all over the world in those books,” she said of geography and other reading she encountered as a child.

“We need to invest in our youth today,” she said.

Dunbar stressed the importance of math and science as a language that students today need to learn.

Youth today should be enabled to realize their dreams for the betterment of society, she said.

About 300 people attended the fund-raising breakfast, filling more than 30 tables.

Bob Bridge, retired owner of Bob Bridge Toyota, was in awe of the amount of community support.

“The thing that was overwhelming to me was what a celebration for the city of Renton,” Bridge said.

He was amazed and the representation from elected officials and key business leaders to leaders from the education and religious community as well.

From Seattle Seahawks representatives on down to staff from the Federal Reserve, the turnout is a testament to the city of Renton, he said.

The event was put on by the organization, Friends of Renton Schools, which started in 2009. The group was started by educators, business owners, civic leaders and community volunteers. Recently they hired a grant writer, the only paid staff to support fund-raising efforts.

The aim is to address the ongoing problems arising from state and federal education budget deficits and the impact they have on the quality of public education in the Renton School District.

Since 2006 the district has raised the graduation rate from 74 percent to 94 percent.

The Renton School District is coming off of a victory, passing a $97 million school-improvement bond measure, which was validated on Friday. The measure received a 65.57 approval; in numbers that’s a 95-vote margin of approval.